Last night must have been the most comfortable awards show of Lady Gaga's career. No sky-high lobster heels, complicated head pieces or perishables worn as wardrobe that will start to rot as the night progresses. Nope. Parading all night as her alter ego Jo Calderone (who bears a striking resemblance to Adam Goldberg), she got to enjoy the comfort of a white tee, jacket, comfy pants and heelless shoes. Not a feather attached to eyelash!
I go back and forth on my Gaga fandom. I loved her when she first came out. Perfectly spun pop sugar. Then she had her moments of trying too hard, trying to be Madonna and trying to offend my dad while we were watching American Idol together.
The first time I heard "Born this Way", I thought "How much commission does Madonna get from the use of 'Express Yourself"s melody?" Maybe it's thanks to Glee, radio overkill or osmosis, but I somehow love the song now. She always wins me back!
Last night's performance began with a Broadway-worthy monologue of Jo's, complaining about how rough it is being in a relationship with Lady Gaga. We can imagine. I guess the only way for Gaga to pull a fast one on us at this point was to publicly declare that she's in on the joke.
I was impressed with her ability to stay in character for the better part of the night. Her posture, walk and voice was perfectly male during her monologue. Although, her singing voice switched back to female during the "You and I" performance. Which is fine, because I really liked the song.
She even stayed male during Beyonce's surprise announcement. (Way to upstage things Beyonce!) I loved the shrills out of the women in the audience and Kanye's constant "You dog!" smacking on Jay-Z. Not one to break character, you then you see slouchy Gaga, er... Jo give a triumphant fist pump. Now that's commitment!
So, I'm a fan again, Gaga. Way to keep it fresh. Although, I will point out that perfection like Adele's easily wins me over without the need to resort to gimmicks. The more stellar the talent, the less the need for hijinks. But, a "pop pass" goes out to those who realize they may not have the vocal ace in the hole, so they try their best to make up for that by means of alter egos or cheese block headpieces.
Gaga, I'm back. As long as you keep mixin' it up, I'll pay attention. (And, more piano ballads please.) Katy Perry, back to the drawing board.
Here's the performance if you missed it:
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